Wednesday, September 20, 2006

As a fan of Professional Wrestling, I've seen a number of basic elements on the various shows and principles can easily be applied to table-top roleplaying. Most of this advice is oriented towards Game-Masters (GM's), but some of it will help players as well.

While I've watched a number of other promotions, I'm most familiar with the WWE, and most of my examples will be drawn from WWE Monday Night Raw. I may also pull an example or two out of the ECW. Not all of my examples will be 100% accurate, either, so don't use my examples as a means of catching up on your favorite character's storyline.

Every Character Has A StoryIn Professional Wrestling, every single character has some sort of hook and a bit of background. It doesn't have to be very deep or even interesting. It just has to exist.

Randy Orton wants to outshine his father, and so he's trying to beat all the wrestlers who beat his father.

The Highlanders are a tag team from Scotland. Even the smarter one isn't very bright.

Know Your RoleThis is separate from the background - you need to know what you are capable of. As a GM, you need to be aware of what your players are capable of.

The Big Show is seven feet tall, and weighs over 500 pounds. While he's perfectly willing to take on two opponents at a time in a Handicap Match, you won't see him doing many ladder matches.

Supercrazy is unlikely to go one-on-one with the Big Show.

At the same time, players will want to achieve the nearly impossible.

Sabu wants the ECW title, and he thinks he can take on the Big Show to get it.

More than that, as a player you should also know if you're a Face, a Heel or a Tweener - Most PC's are Good Guys, which makes them Faces, but not every fan favorite is a Face. Heels should be NPC villains for the most part. Just because a character is humorous doesn't mean they're a face - There are comic heels and serious heels, just like there are comic faces and serious faces.

There Needs To Be A StoryIt's that simple. If you just throw a bunch of wrestlers in a ring, it's not very entertaining. Give them a reason for being in that ring. Similarly, just dropping PC's into the world you've created won't get you any benefit or fun.

John Cena wrestling Edge isn't very interesting. John Cena wrestling Edge because Edge has been mocking John Cena relentlessly is much more interesting. John Cena wrestling Edge for the WWE Title that Edge stole from him is even more entertaining.

Characters Can't Always Succeed AloneWorking together, characters can succeed where they would have individually failed.

HHH and Sean Michaels are good friends who just want to have fun. They share a dislike for Vince McMahon, and are currently making his life a little miserable. Individually, they wouldn't be able to work nearly as much mahem.

The fact that some goals are impossible alone can also be used to encourage PC's to get to know NPC's or each other.

Characters Will Develop Their Own RelationshipsDon't just force characters together. Give them a reason to work together.

Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit had been rivals for a long time, but, with a common foe, formed a tag team (and won the Tag Title).

Along the same lines, allow character relationships to develop and change. Player Characters very rarely wind up hating each other - they may be rivals, but there's nothing wrong with a friendly rivalry.

Characters Will ChangeOver time, characters gain more skills. Depending on the system, they may also pick up personality quirks (good and bad). It's not a bad thing - and it shouldn't be limited to PC's.

Shane McMahon spent a great deal of time as a Face, feuding with his father. Now, he is his father's right-hand man. This makes him a more effective villain, because he has positive history with some of the Faces in the league.

Don't Give That Man A MikeProfessional Wrestlers all do what they call "Promos," in which they grab the microphone and rant for a time. Some wrestlers are better at it than others. In the same, way, some players will spell out exactly what they are saying in character, and others will paraphrase. Don't force paraphrase players to stretch out what they're saying if they don't want to. Also remember: Some players just want the action. They're not interested in character interaction.

Johnny Nitro is a decent wrestler, but when you give him a microphone, it's like watching paint dry. It's better to just cut to the action so he doesn't have to open his mouth.

Along the same lines, don't allow an NPC to make a long speech - and don't allow them to argue with one another at length, either. Even if there's a factional split among the Villains, keep the arguments short. Players have short attention spans, and long NPC discussions put them to sleep.

Evil CheatsIt's that simple. As a GM, always be looking for a way to make the game more difficult for your players. Don't make it too difficult - and if they can counter the cheating somehow, let them. Even faces PC's cheat from time to time.

Edge held the WWE Championship for a long time. Nearly all of his title defense victories were because his side-kick Lita handed him chairs or distracted the referee or just beat on his opponent while Edge distracted the referee.

Don't make it too easy, either. Players need to feel like they have earned that win. If they counter your cheating, find a new way to cheat.

Accidents HappenSometimes, your players will throw that critical success and badly wound your best villain during the introductory scene. Roll with it - have his assistant step up or stage a coup.

If Vince McMahon suffers a breakdown, Shane McMahon will step in to do the job. If they're both incapacitated, Jonathan Coachman steps up.

Even though Paul Heyman may set foot in the ring, he's got two bodyguards who will do his fighting for him.

The Fix Is InGood will eventually triumph. It won't be easy, and it can take some time, but PC's will eventually succeed at their quests.

John Cena just re-took his title from Edge. It took several months, and it involved beating Edge in Toronto (Edge's home town). It also involved a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match - a match type at which John Cena had no experience, and at which Edge excels.

Evil Doesn't Go AwayJust because they've won one battle or completed one adventure doesn't mean that the game is over.

John Cena just won the title back from Edge, but Edge has made it clear that he feels as though it's still his title, and he's threatened to invoke the rematch clause of his contract.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

I know I said I'd post about The Good Competitor, but it's proven to need a lot more editing that I'd expected. I'm working on it.

In fact, I have several posts that are in the Edit Queue:

- The Good Competitor - What Gamers Can Learn from Professional Wrestling - More on Demo Teams (Including a list of demo teams and contact information) - An Overview of Dungeon Twister Tournaments (Including formats and styles of play) - A Couple of Reviews - More Industry News and Previews

They all need some polish (and, in some cases, more writing), but I'm working on 'em.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

I know I'd promised to talk about Good Competitors, but something came up.

It's not here, yet, but Asmodée has a new game on the way.

Well, a new edition of an older game.

I’ve been lucky enough to be able to check out some of the pre-production art and read through the previous edition of the rules. It looks beautiful. A huge upgrade over the previous edition, where the board looked like this:

I should point out that the old map is printed on cloth - I'm don't know if the new edition will be cloth-printed or not.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

I'm really good at losing games of Dungeon Twister. Really good. Here is my tournament profile. Which doesn't include demo games played at Origins and GenCon '05 and '06.

In the '05 Convention Season, I won a total (in nearly eighty hours of play) of two games. Now, people say that a good Demo Team knows how to lose without making it seem like they are trying to lose. Let me state - for the record - I was not trying to lose. By the end of the season, I desperately wanted to win.

This year has been better to me. I've reached the point where I think I should probably handicap myself against beginners in casual play. Even though I still managed to lose a fair amount this year.

That said, however, one of the great joys of GenCon '06 was meeting up with Michael again.

Michael is a friend of mine who is one of Smirk and Dagger's Instigators. He runs an excellent Hex Hex demo. Michael also happens to be last year's GenCon Dungeon Twister Tournament Champion. And a good opponent.

I'm sure, then, you'll understand why I took such joy in playing him at GenCon this year. And winning. Twice. They weren't total massacres, but I did win.

My ego was further boosted when Michael then gave Chris a run for his money.

Next year at GenCon, I hope to play Michael again. And I do hope he beats me, so that we can pass the rivalry along for another year. Which means that he'll need to practice.

... which leads me to the subject of my next post, which should be out next week sometime. If I can get it together. See, I've already talked about what I feel it takes to be a good demo team member. I'd like to discuss next the good competitor.

And I'll probably use Michael as one of my examples. Partly because he's a good competitor and partly because I know he reads this.

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